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VERA DICKSON’S 
TRIUMPH 


BY 

SARA C. PALMER 

' \ 

Author of “The Story of My Life,*’ etc. 




Chicago 

THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS’N 
826 North La Salle Street 


!/ 


Copy right y 1917 
By 

The Bible Institute Colportage 
Association of Chicago 



OCT -5 !9!7 


©G1,A478872 


INTRODUCTION 


It is a pleasure to commend the story written 
by Miss Sara C. Palmer, and in thus commend- 
ing it I hope that it may have a very generous 
reception on the part of the reading public. 

Miss Palmer has been preeminently success- 
ful in her chosen lifework. She is so true to 
God’s Word and to the Son of God, that what- 
ever she writes is worthy of careful reading. 

This book must be interesting and helpful, 
because it has grown out of her work as an 
evangelist, and the things about which she 
writes are the things which she has experienced 
in her own life, and seen in the lives of others. 

I pray for God’s best blessing to be upon 
all that she is seeking to do for her Master in 
“Vera Dickson’s Triumph.” 

J. Wilbur Chapman. 


\ 





AUTHOR’S FOREWORD 


In evangelistic work it has been my experi- 
ence, that, after a sermon which the Lord used 
in bringing blessing to many, requests have 
come to have those discourses published; or, 
after a lecture on some special subject, similar 
requests were made. Then again, I have been 
asked to put in print some of the illustrations 
out of my experience, which have been wonder- 
fully blessed because they are “true stories.” 
For years I have thought of complying with 
the request of my friends and more than once 
have decided to take up special subjects and 
write them in fictional form, but, fearing I 
might be misunderstood or unduly criticized, 
I refrained from doing so. Doubts, too, as to 
the advisability of using the fictional as a 
vehicle to convey the truth along many lines, 
kept me from giving people the benefit of my 
experience through my pen. 


8 


Author's Foreword 


The germ for this volume has been in my 
mind for years and took shape when I read the 
novels written by Sydney Watson, who is one 
of England’s best known writers; all doubts 
were banished from my mind when I found the 
Lord had used them so wondrously in leading 
many into the truths contained in the stories. 

I use the fictional style, therefore, to clothe 
the truth in this little book. Every story told 
and every illustration used really happened 
directly or indirectly in connection with my 
work, except the story of the tramp, and I am 
grateful to Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, D. D., 
for giving me permission to use it. 

My prayer is, that this story may be used in 
leading many, whom I could not reach with my 
platform messages, to see the error of their 
way and turn to the Lord. If one soul, pre- 
cious in the sight of God, is blessed I will feel 
repaid. 


Sara C. Palmer. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Reception at “The Elms” - - - - 11 

II. The New Minister - -- -- -- 19 

III. The “Elmhurst” Family 25 

IV. An Important Matter ------ 32 

V. The Itinerant Preacher ------ 40 

VI. Hurt Feelings - -- -- -- - 45 

VII. The Card Party - -- -- -- -50 

VIII. Gambling - -- -- -- -- 57 

IX. Deepening Interest - -- -- --61 

X. Popular Amusements ------ - 72 

XI. A Momentous Hour - -- -- --82 

XH. On the Bounding Ocean ------ 91 

XHI. A Good Confession --------97 

XIV. Answered Prayer ------- 101 

XV. Miss Beatrice Dickson ------- 108 

XVI. The Prodigal's Return - - - - - - 117 

XVH. Saved to Serve -------- - 119 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


“The Elms,” the Dickson residence ------ 13 

“Elmhurst,” the home of the Gordons ----- 27*-^ 

“I will never go forward in that tabernacle to make a 
confession of my faith in God - -- -- - 63 

“The tabernacle was crowded with a most auspicious 
gathering - -- -- -- -- -- 73 

The church home of the Dicksons and the Gordons - - 123^ 


% 


I 


Vera Dickson’s Triumph 


CHAPTER I 

The Reception at “The Elms” 

V ERA DICKSON had just graduated 
at one of the best colleges in the land. 
Her father and mother were present at 
the commencement exercises and felt very 
proud of their only daughter, who could not in 
any sense be termed “a spoiled child,” She was 
a girl of medium height, with deep blue eyes, 
and a mass of golden-brown hair, and features 
that were almost perfect. Although amiable, 
vivacious, kind and thoughtful to all around, 
Vera was free from conceit either of her per- 
sonal charms or her wealth, though she could 
boast of affluence had she so desired. 

Her mother had remained long enough after 
commencement to accompany her daughter to 
the city and to select goods and styles for the 
replenishment of Vera’s wardrobe. Then she 
[ 11 ] 


12 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

had hastened home to make preparations for 
an appropriate welcome, while, for a fortnight, 
Vera was measured, fitted and draped until 
she never wanted to see a dressmaker again. 

At last the work was done to the satisfaction 
of the girl, whom her mother thought eligible 
to become one of the society leaders of the 
future. Vera was really on her way home on 
board an express train and, as she listened to 
the sound of the wheels, while the train sped 
over the rails, she was glad that every revolu- 
tion was bringing her nearer her destination. 

With a cordial welcome Mr. and Mrs. Dick- 
son kissed their daughter affectionately as they 
received her into their home once more. They 
had planned very carefully for her education, 
and V era had not disappointed them. She now 
stood in the spacious hall of her palatial home 
with refinement, culture and grace marking 
everything she did, to the great delight of the 
indulgent parents, who had looked forward to 
this moment with great expectancy through 
the years. 

Her father, Lewis W. Dickson, was the sole 
proprietor of the largest and finest department 


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The Elms,” the Dickson Residence 






















- » 


The Reception at "'The Elms"* 


15 


store in the city. The business was growing by 
leaps and bounds, promising great wealth to 
its owner, if the saying were true that “coming 
events cast their shadows before.” 

He was a keen business man, a liberal phil- 
anthropist, a clean politician, a favorite in 
society and a diplomat in the church. He was 
envied by business men, as he held the respect 
of all who knew him because of his sterling 
qualities. His word was as good as his bond. 
He was admired by the masses, who never 
knew him to turn a deaf ear to a tale of woe, or 
refuse a helping hand to the needy. Business 
was never too pressing for Mr. Dickson to be 
gracious to the most menial stranger who came 
on a legitimate errand, or to offer advice to the 
dullest clerk, or a word of encouragement to 
the struggling youth. He took his employes 
on their merit, and paid* better salaries than 
aiiy other employer in the city. When asked 
why he did so, he answered, “I do not want to 
become a despised millionaire who makes his 
money by the sweat-system and hoards it 
for its own sake. I want the entire working 
force to enjoy it with me.” 


16 Vera Dickson’s Triumph 

It was natural for Vera’s young friends to 
decide she had been born with a silver spoon 
in her mouth, while the more venerable said, 
“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places ; 
yea, I have a goodly heritage” (Psalm 16: 6) . 

“Come right up to your room, Vera,” said 
her mother, as she led the way up the wide stair- 
case, “you will require a good rest as we are 
having a grand reception tonight in your honor, 
and the most delightful people of the city are 
to be present to welcome you.” 

Care-free Vera, who was always bright and 
happy, was soon fast asleep. When she awoke 
she found preparations for the reception in full 
swing, so the only work assigned to her was 
to look after her girl friends, Madge Wendall 
and Louise Roper, who were to receive with 
her. 

The girls arrived early and were busy dis- 
cussing their beautiful bouquets when Mrs. 
Dickson announced that the guests were begin- 
ning to arrive, and she directed them to take 
their places beside her in the drawing room. 

Vera looked and acted like a very queen 
among women, as she greeted the guests of the 


The Reception at ''The Elms'' 


17 


evening, and introduced one after another to 
her fair companions, and not until they had 
partaken of some refreshment, did she accept 
A lick Gordon’s arm to go to the dining room. 

Alick Gordon, like Vera, had not long re- 
turned from college, and had started his prac- 
tice of law with one of the best firms in the city. 
They had been school friends for some years, 
and had kept up a correspondence through 
their college days. With happy expectations 
Alick welcomed his erstwhile companion back 
to her home. 

“What do you intend doing with yourself 
now that you are home, Vera?” 

“Oh! make the best of what pleasure there 
is in this quiet city,” answered the girl, in a 
most unassuming manner. “I will play tennis, 
golf and hockey when I can, — go fishing and 
riding occasionally, — then I will have cards, 
dances and plays when I want indoor sport ; I 
can think of a hundred arid one ways of enter- 
taining and being entertained. What were you 
thinking of, Alick?” 

“Just this, that you can always count on me 
and any help I can give you, no matter how 


18 


Vera Dickson^ s Triumph 


busy I am,” answered Alick, in his big-hearted 
and generous way. 

“Capital, Alick! I thought I could depend 
on your assistance in our plans, and I assure 
you, I will keep you busy,” she said laughingly; 
“you will never be among the unemployed so 
long as I am around,” and they were soon lost 
in an animated talk over some reminiscences of 
the past. 


CHAPTER II 
The New Minister 

M rs, DICKSON was a woman of the 
world, much loved and much sought 
after, and the company assembled at 
“The Elms” that night was made up of the 
elite of society. They praised Mrs. Dickson 
for her wisdom in ushering her daughter into 
society in this way, and commented on Vera’s 
love for entertaining which she inherited from 
her mother, 

Vera played and sang in such a charming 
manner that everyone present felt like staying 
in the background and allowing her to carry 
the programme through herself. One man, 
who sat with tears streaming down his cheeks 
while she sang a simple little song, said, “She 
has the most bewitching voice I ever heard!” 
So the time went and all felt sorry when one 
after another took their departure, though each 
one went home feeling that some fine entertain- 
ments were in store for them in the months that 

[ 19 ] 


20 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

were to follow, while Vera was just herself, 
happy, full of life and spirits, and desirous that 
others should be happy also. 

Her mother followed her into her room that 
night and looked for some words of apprecia- 
tion from her daughter and she was not disap- 
pointed, for no sooner did Vera see her enter 
than she threw her arms around her mother’s 
neck and kissed her again and again, saying, 
“You are the kindest, dearest mother I ever 
heard of, and it is so nice to be here that I wish 
my school days had been over long ago, so that 
I could have enioyed all these good things 
before this.” 

“Well, dear, I am glad you are enjoying 
them now, but this is only a foretaste of what 
is to come. Now you must go to sleep and we 
will talk about these things tomorrow.” 

It was time for lunch before anyone made 
an appearance next day; after a light repast 
Mrs. Dickson and her daughter entered into a 
conversation of such absorbing interest to both, 
that neither of them realized how many hours 
had passed while they were planning a regu- 
lar programme and mapping out a round of 


The New Minister 


21 


entertainments of various kinds, that would 
keep both women busy for many months to 
come. 

“There is just one thing, Vera, that I want 
to mention while we are making our plans,” 
said Mrs. Dickson, — “you know your father and 
I are staunch members of the church, but we 
have a new minister. Dr. Archibald Douglass, 
who is the most fanatical person I ever heard, 
and we are very unsettled at present about our 
church home. We may take our letters to 
another church, but, in the meantime, we are 
undecided, as our church has all the best fam- 
ilies whom we know and there are few people 
of any consequence in the churches near us, so 
probably we have to remain and make the best 
of a bad bargain; those who voted for this man 
are the plebean of our congregation who are 
usually the trouble-makers in any denomi- 
nation.” 

“But mother, he is an educated man and I 
cannot understand why he caters to that class 
of people,” said Vera, in a puzzled manner. 

“Yes, he is educated, there is no question 
about; that, but his doctrines are troubling the 


22 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

educated people in the congregation, — ^he has 
such peculiar views.” 

“What does he teach?” 

“He is most imperious about amusements in 
the church, and you know, Vera, we have held 
our young people because we believe in enter- 
taining them,” 

“I cannot see why he should deprecate 
amusements since the burden of them is not 
left on his shoulders,” said Vera, knowing the 
amount of time and expense her mother had 
prided herself in putting into the entertain- 
ments at their church. 

“That is just what we have told him, but he 
insists that his programme consists of preaching 
the old-fashioned gospel without compromise 
and that he will never entertain people on the 
road to destruction, even if he should lose every 
member of the church.” 

“What is the gospel then, if he leaves amuse- 
ments out of the question?” 

“That is what I cannot understand. He 
believes, he says, in ‘Ruin by the Fall, Redemp- 
tion by the Blood and Regeneration by the 
Holy Ghost’ and although an educated man he 


The New Minister 


23 


holds that education has nothing to do with 
salvation. He also says that in our unsaved 
state we are ‘amiable children of wrath, edu- 
cated heirs of hell, accomplished servants of the 
devil,’ That education is a great boon and 
blessing to humanity he admits, but the power 
of God alone can change the heart. He em- 
phasizes the fact that educated and uneducated 
alike must experience the saving change, and 
accept by faith the Son of God as their personal 
Saviour.” 

“I fear I could not believe such theology, 
mother,” said Vera, her fertile brain recalling 
the teaching of her college days. “A man who 
is considered one of the very best theologians 
in the country visited our school not long ago 
and lectured on theology, and he said, ‘Justifi- 
cation by faith is an antiquated theory; it was 
good enough for an ignorant, illiterate man like 
Abraham, but we could not expect educated, re- 
fined, cultured people of the twentieth century 
to believe that ; what we need today,’ said this 
worthy theologian, ‘is education, culture, refine- 
ment, occupation, and that is what the world 
is coming to!’ So, mother-mine, I prefer to 


24 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

believe my theological professor’s views, who 
thinks the church is the custodian of our morals, 
and if that be the case, I will seek the highest 
standard possible for myself and my set of 
friends, and also the help of the church to live 
up to that standard.” 

“Those are just my sentiments, Vera, and 
w^e have our hands full as we seek to make 
changes in our church as well as entertaining 
our friends in the future.” 


CHAPTER III 

The “Elmhurst” Family 

T he Gordon property adjoined the Dick- 
son estate and the two families were on 
veiy friendly terms, though Mrs. Gordon 
was a very diff erent woman from Mrs. Dickson. 
]\Irs. Gordon was a very quiet, retiring char- 
acter who was seeking to please God in every 
detail of her life. Those who wanted her por- 
trait could open their Bibles at the book of 
Proverbs and in the thirty-first chapter was the 
type of woman to be found at “Elmhurst.” 

Her husband. Judge Gordon, was an exem- 
plary Christian man, a clear-cut character who 
stood for righteousness and had no compromise 
in his make-up. Business men trusted him; 
politicians knew they could not buy him ; trans- 
gressors of the country’s laws knew justice 
would be meted out to them irrespective of 
influence or social standing. 

They had lived a comparatively quiet life 
until recently when their son Alick had re- 

[ 25 ] 


26 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 


turned from college and demanded that their 
house should be open to his particular set of 
friends, some of whom neither the Judge nor 
Mrs. Gordon approved. 

A distant relative whose parents had died, 
leaving her alone in the world, had come to live 
with them. Jessie Arnold, like her friend Mrs. 
Gordon, was a Christian, who not only pro- 
fessed to be a follower of Christ, but was an 
ardent worker for her Mas*ter. 

Each morning after breakfast the two ladies 
met in the library to read a portion of Scrip- 
ture and unite in prayer to the One whose ear 
was ever open to their cry. The duties of the 
day seemed as nothing after this time of sweet 
communion and both took up their respective 
duties realizing the truth of the words, “my 
yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 
11 : 30 ). 

During the reading one lovely morning, 
Mrs. Gordon looked rather sorrowful, and be- 
fore prayer she confided her sorrow to Miss 
Arnold. 

“Jessie, I am very much concerned about 
Alick; I fear he is drifting, and my greatest 










Elmhurst,” the Home of the Gordons 









The ''Elmhurst'^ Family 29 

fear is, that he is becoming fond of alcohol; 
have you thought of this?” 

Thus interrogated, Miss Arnold, always 
open and frank, confirmed JMrs. Gordon’s 
fears. 

‘Tie is going out tonight with his friends,” 
said the anxious mother, “and I want you to 
pray for him. Pledge-signing is no use to 
Alick ; what he needs is a change of heart, and 
he will never be a success in the professional 
world until he has experienced the saving 
power of God in his life; let us make him a 
special subject of prayer.” 

That evening the two ladies were together 
once more; the Judge, who was tired after a 
hard day in court and who had another strenu- 
ous day ahead, had retired early. Mrs. Gordon 
watched the clock anxiously ; soon she heard a 
step on the driveway and, rising hurriedly, said, 
“There is Alick; I shall go upstairs and I wish 
you would remain and talk to him about his 
soul’s salvation.” 

With a prayer for wisdom Miss Arnold com- 
plied with her friend’s request and waited; the 
door opened and Alick walked in. 


30 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

“Hullo, Jessie; I am surprised to find you 
here.” 

“I waited for you.” 

“That was unnecessary.” 

“Yes, except that I wanted to talk to you.” 

“Going to preach a sermon, are you?” 

“Not exactly, Alick, but I am anxious to 
know when you are going to surrender to the 
claims of Christ.” 

“Oh, bother! I never think about such 
things.” 

“You ought to, Alick; you are grieving the 
Spirit of God, who has been following you in 
convicting power through the years.” 

“Now look here, Jessie, I know that mother 
left you to preach to me; I suppose she thinks 
you can convert me, but I want you to know 
you are wasting your breath ; I never could be 
a Christian.” 

“Why not, Alick? You must know that you 
are breaking your mother’s heart.” 

“That may be, Jessie, but I cannot be a 
Christian.” 

“Do you think that the Christ who has saved 
and satisfied your father and mother cannot do 
the same for you ?” 


The '‘Elmhursf^ Family 31 

“To tell the truth, Jessie, — I have tried, but 
all in vain. I never told anyone before, but I 
am tired of the life I am living, and I wish 
again and again I could live differently, but it 
is impossible.” 

“Yes, in your own strength, but not if you 
take Christ as your Saviour and have the power 
of God in your life.” 

“You may be surprised to know that I have 
even gone down on my knees at my bedside and 
have done just what you say I ought to do, and 
thought I was saved, for I know God’s way of 
salvation, but the next day I could not pass the 
saloon no matter how I tried ; can you explain 
that?” 

“Yes, according to the Bible you were ‘led 
captive by the devil at his will’ and you had to 
go just where he led you, which goes to prove 
you need to change masters. Why not take 
Jesus Christ for your master and by God’s 
grace serve Him, and bring the peace and com- 
fort to this grand old home that nothing else 
can bring?” 

An awful struggle ensued, but once more 
God’s Holy Spirit was driven away grieved, 
and Satan got the victory. 


CHAPTER IV 


An Important Matter 

I T was Sunday morning and the first Lord’s 
Day Vera had been at home for several 
years, as her vacations had been spent with 
her father and mother, travelling or at their 
summer home, so that she was a comparative 
stranger at “The Elms.” 

“Church is at II o’clock, dear, and William 
will take us in the car.” 

“All right, mother,” and Vera hurried off to 
dress for church as she had done many times 
before when a much smaller girl than she was 
in the day in question. 

The ride to church was uneventful but pleas- 
ant. All nature seemed to recognize this day 
of rest and gladness. The air was laden with 
the perfume of flowers, the sun shone in all 
his splendor, the birds sang their sweetest songs. 

To be sure the pews were no longer rented, 
but there was a particular one that was always 
occupied by the Dicksons and it seemed as 

[ 32 ] 


An Important Matter 33 

though no one else dare enter that pew, nor sit 
in that particular place to worship, so to this 
pew Mr. Dickson led the way. 

Vera was full of curiosity; she had heard so 
much about this strange preacher who had some 
way or other been called to preach in their 
church, that she expected to see some kind of 
monstrosity in the place of their former pastor 
who would not have offended Mrs. Dickson for 
worlds. Instead, she saw a young man, tall, 
well-built and fine-looking, with a mass of black 
hair, and blue eyes that seemed to see right into 
the souls of his hearers. His square chin indi- 
cated great determination and his firmly-set 
jaw looked as though he defied men or devils 
when God revealed to him some truth from His 
word. 

“His preaching is better in the mornings,” 
whispered Mrs. Dickson, “I have almost de- 
cided to stop coming at night, as he makes one 
feel so uncomfortable.” 

Vera enjoyed the preliminary part of the 
service, as she was fond of music, and that 
church was famed for having the best talent 
that money could procure. Then came the ser- 


34 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

mon, when the minister took for his theme, 
“Service,” basing his remarks on the words 
“Go work today in my vineyard” (Matt. 
21:28). 

He showed the need of working “today,” 
for the night cometh when no man can work, 
and urged all the real children of God to get 
into harness for their Master, and obey His 
command. The speaker was eloquent ; his audi- 
ence hung on his words, and the power that 
accompanied them seemed to grip his hearers, 
sending them forth to be, no longer idlers, but 
“laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). 

Vera listened very attentively, but for some 
reason a great deal of what was said was incom- 
prehensible to her. Being enamored, however, 
with the preaching, she determined to take a 
class in Sunday-school and so do something to 
obey the command that had been so clearly her- 
alded forth that morning. 

The service was not mentioned until the 
Dickson family was seated at the lunch table, 
when Vera announced her intention and in- 
quired how she should go about the work. Her 
mother, who was not only a leader in society. 


An Important Matter 35 

but, who, since she came as a bride to “The 
Elms,” had been a leader in the church also, 
had no difficulty in directing her to the right 
person, feeling rather proud of her daughter 
for following her mother’s example in combin- 
ing pleasure in the world with service in the 
church. 

Vera, according to her mother’s suggestion, 
went to see the officials of the church. She 
made her request and the following Sunday 
was installed in a class of ten fine boys, ranging 
from fifteen to nineteen years of age. 

The boys were delighted, and all the more so 
when they found their young teacher so charm- 
ingly natural and unassuming, and so appar- 
ently free from fanaticism. They immediately 
decided they were going to have a good time in 
their class in the coming days, and they were 
not disappointed, for their teacher had her 
mother’s ability to entertain, and no class in all 
that large school was so fortunate — so the boys 
thought — as class No. 3. Never a week passed 
but Vera; had some new entertainment planned 
for her boys, and she herself joined them in all 
their pleasures. With the help of Alick Gor- 


36 


Vera Dickson^ s Triumph 

don and some of her friends in the city, her 
programmes were considered by entertainers a 
very unusual and extraordinary type. 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

Two long rings had failed to bring anyone 
to the telephone at the Dickson residence, and 
Vera, who was disturbed in her reading, went 
herself, and sitting down on the chair at her 
mother’s desk, raised the receiver. 

“Hullo.” 

“Vera?” 

“Yes,Alick.” 

“I’m coming over to see you.” 

“All right.” 

“I have a very important matter to ask you 
about and must get it off my mind.” 

“Come right over then.” 

“Goodbye.” 

“Goodbye,” and she hung up the receiver. 

That was nothing unusual since there was 
a perfect understanding between the young 
people that some day they would be united in 
holy matrimony, and the parents in both homes 
were well satisfied with the arrangement. 


An Important Matter 37 

V era was just wondering what the important 
matter was when Alick walked in unannounced 
and greeted her. They laughed gaily and chat- 
ted for a time and then remembering the “im- 
portant matter/’ she said, “Now, young man, 
what is it that gives you trouble?” 

“It is a matter that is not pleasant to handle.” 

“For you or for me?” said Vera in a banter- 
ing way. 

“For both,” replied Alick, with so much ear- 
nestness that Vera thought there was trouble 
brewing somewhere. 

“Proceed.” 

“What is your idea about card-playing, 
Vera?” 

“Why do you ask that question?” asked Vera, 
surprised at the introduction to the unpleasant 
discussion. 

“Well, it is just like this, Vera, — our people 
are strong against cards and I was more than 
surprised that you used them here as part of 
the entertainment for your Sunday-school 
class.” 

She had turned very pale, but as her lips 
took a resolute curve she faced the issue and 


38 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

answered decisively, “I see no harm in playing 
cards at any time; my boys enjoy it and I see 
no reason why I should not give them all the 
pleasure possible so as to hold them for the 
Sunday-school and also for the church.” 

‘‘Supposing they should become gamblers, 
which is an argument used today against 
cards.” 

“That could never be,” she said with great 
excitement. “My boys are splendid; none of 
them have a desire to go farther than I tell 
them in regard to cards ; besides I have no faitli 
in men who cannot play a game of cards occa- 
sionally without becoming gamblers.” 

“Supposing you were engaged to one of 
those boys and he actually became a gambler, 
would you marry him?” 

“Certainly not ! I would have nothing to do 
with a man who could not be as temperate in 
this as in everything else.” 

Alick hung his head and was lost in thought 
for a few minutes, while Vera watched him 
closely. 

“That is all I wanted to know, Vera. Our 
folks have such strong convictions about these 


An Important Matter 


39 


things that I was anxious to know your mind, 
and determined to find out before it would 
trouble me further.’’ 

“Were you really troubled, Alick?” 

“Yes, I was, but since I know your opinion 
I feel wonderfully relieved as I have such con- 
fidence in you and value your judgment in this 
as in many other things. You are such an ad- 
mirable character, Vera; so anxious to help 
others; doing everything in your power for hu- 
manity and yet not a bit narrow-minded. You 
know, Vera, my mother is one of the best 
women in the world, but she is so narrow along 
these lines that a fellow has no liberty in enter- 
ing into modern amusements whatever.” 


CHAPTER V 


The Itinerant Preacher 

W ONDER why we should be bored with 
I special services in our church/’ said Mrs. 

JL Dickson, when she was seated at the lunch 
table one Sunday after the morning service. 

Dr. Archibald Douglass, a fearless evan- 
gelistic preacher who dared to do things for 
God in the face of opposition from the unspir- 
itual members of his congregation, had an- 
nounced that morning that a friend of his, who 
had returned from an evangelistic tour of the 
world, was to spend a week or two with him, 
and the officials had consented to let him preach 
in a short series of meetings. This was what 
drew forth the criticism of Mrs. Dickson, who 
continuing, said, ‘T feel it is an imposition to 
heap up expenses when we are paying a large 
salary already to our pastor and expect him to 
do the work. We do not need an evangelist in 
our church; let him go to the rescue missions 
and talk to the ribald habitues there; to briner 

[ 40 ] 


The Itinerant Preacher 


41 


him to our church to convert us is an insult to 
the staunch members of our congregation who 
built the church and have supported it so loy- 
ally and nobly through the years. I have no 
sympathy with such a move; I fear we have the 
wrong man for our pastor this time, and any- 
thing I can do to have him removed you may 
rest assured I will do it, and will not fail to 
greet his departure with acclamation.” 

Vera, who never was regarded as capricious, 
was very thoughtful and her mother turned to 
her with the query, “Are you going tonight?” 

“Yes, mother, I shall go; you see my opin- 
ions are not fixed like yours. My knowledge 
of church work is very fragmentary and I pre- 
fer to hear for myself in order to be better able 
to discuss the matter intelligently.” 

Mrs. Dickson demurred somewhat at first, 
but reassured by her daughter’s reference to 
her intelligence, she said, “You have always 
been a very sensible, level-headed girl whom no 
fanatical preaching could lead astray, there- 
fore it will be perfectly safe for you to attend 
and study the thing through, and I venture to 
say you will agree with me as to the type of 


42 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

people this kind of preaching is intended for.” 

So Vera went that night, and the message 
seemed so straight from the Word of God that 
it went right home to her susceptible heart. 
There was no sign of fanaticism about the 
preacher but an earnestness that made Vera 
feel he knew what he was talking about. 

The text was Genesis 3:9, “Where art thou ?” 
and the preacher put the question to Christians, 
backsliders, and sinners. His points were well 
illustrated and applied to his hearers; he did 
not talk to people who were not there, but 
right to the heart of each person present, re- 
minding Vera of Daniel Webster, who said, 
“When I listen to a speaker I like to feel that 
he is making it to me a personal matter.” 

She went home impressed and very thought- 
ful and as she knelt at her bedside that night 
she could hear again and again the clear, rich, 
bell-like voice of the preacher, asking the ques- 
tion, “Where art thou?” 

She attended very regularly for several 
nights, becoming more and more impressed. 
It seemed as though the preacher knew her 
thoughts and that some one must have told 


The Itinerant Preacher 


43 


him her life story; more than once she felt 
inclined to ask him why he singled her out in 
all that vast audience and preached to her alone. 

It was all new to Vera and she wished the 
application could be expunged from his ser- 
mons, as that troubled her more than his argu- 
ments and caused her to toss about on her 
pillow for hours at a time, resulting in a decision 
more than once, never to return to the meet- 
ings, only to find herself there the next night 
as one of his most interested listeners. 

One night he made special reference to card- 
playing and urged the people to drop the use 
of cards and “Yield themselves unto God,” say- 
ing, with facile ease and certainty, as he re- 
ferred them to the Word of God, that when 
they belonged to the Lord they would not need 
to go down to Egypt for help (Isa. 31:1), not 
even to amuse their friends nor entertain their 
visitors ; they would, rather, employ their pre- 
cious time in the service of Jesus Christ, and go 
out seeking to bring others from the bondage 
of sin to the glorious liberty of the children of 
God. 


44 Vera Dickson^ s Triumph 

Vera, who was an adept card player, know- 
ing that her mother had all arrangements made 
for a great whist party the following week, 
and that many of the people present were in- 
vited, thought this was a reflection upon her 
mother, so, Naaman-like, she went away in a 
rage and did not study the movement to its 
finale as she had previously intended to do. 


CHAPTER VI 
Hurt Feelings 

M rs. DICKSON, who looked askance 
at all evangelistic work, had very qui- 
etly planned a trip to a distant city to 
visit friends, but especially to get away from 
the meetings. She was too much of a lady to 
openly protest, so she decided that to ignore 
the effort would hurt the minister more than 
to argue the point about the advisability of 
having such services. 

Vera, therefore, was practically alone, and 
feeling she wanted to unburden her heart to 
someone, she made her way through the 
grounds to a little gate that led into the Gordon 
demesne and soon she was looking into a sum- 
mer house where she thought she would find 
Miss Arnold ; she had discovered that that fine 
Christian woman betook herself daily to a quiet 
spot where she could spend some time undis- 
turbed with the most congenial society she 
knew, namely, her Lord and His Word. 

[ 45 ] 


46 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 


The summer house looked like a miniature 
library and Miss Arnold was seated at the table 
enjoying herself as she pored over her open 
Bible. 

“Good morning, Miss Arnold,” said Vera, as 
she bounded in. 

“Good morning. Miss Vera, you gave me 
quite a start ; I did not realize my hiding-place 
had been discovered and I did not even hear 
you coming.” 

“Too much engrossed in your reading, per- 
haps.” 

“I was enjoying my portion very much,” 
said Miss Arnold, as she laid her hand caress- 
ingly on the open Bible. 

“I thought so; you seemed oblivious to every- 
thing else,” said Vera. 

“You look as though something is troubling 
you this morning. May I ask what it is?” 

“You guessed aright; there is something 
troubling me and that is why I came here for a 
little ‘confabulation’ with you.” 

“Nothing wrong at home, I hope. Miss 
Vera.” 


47 


Hurt Feelings 

“Oh no!” she said laughingly, “I have no 
home troubles. You may think it strange but 
I am troubled about the meetings.” 

“I thought you were enjoying them; you 
seemed so much interested.” 

“That is so; I was very much interested until 
last night.” 

“And what happened then?” 

“The preacher came out so strongly against 
card-playing.” 

“Was he wrong in so doing?” 

“Perhaps not; but everyone does not agree 
with him on that question.” 

“You would not expect him to compromise 
even though he knew that, would you?” 

“He could at least have left the question 
open,” said Vera, warming up to her subject. 
“I do not see what that has to do with the 
gospel anyway.” 

“Would not that in itself be compromising?” 

“I knew you would not agree with me, but I 
want you to know that I am completely dis- 
gusted with the whole thing, and I have made 
up my mind never to go back while he is in 
this city.” 


48 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

“But, dear, he did not say anything that is 
not true.” 

“That may be,” said Vera, “but our min- 
ister knows that part of the entertainment at 
our house is cards, that I bring my Sunday- 
school boys there occasionally for a game of 
cards, and our people are among the best con- 
tributors to the church funds, and to bring a 
stranger here to criticise us to our faces is going 
too far. I feel justified in the stand I take. 
It is just as mother said, ‘These special meet- 
ings are all right for rescue missions, but not 
for a church like ours.’ ” 

“You are not going to leave the church over 
it, are you?” said Miss Arnold, fearing the 
family would drift from the gospel that was 
being given in all its simplicity. 

“N o,” said V era thoughtfully. “I shall keep 
my class and continue my church work just the 
same as before, but will be conspicuous by my 
absence at special services in future.” 

Tears were in Miss Arnold’s eyes and Vera 
thought she had said too much, so when she had 
finished her little speech she arose to go, and, 
slipping her arm around Miss Arnold’s shoul- 


49 


Hurt Feelings 

ders, she kissed her affectionately and said, 
“There! I did not mean to trouble you with 
all my worries, and I shall leave you before I 
do any more harm.” 

Miss Arnold smiled through her tears and 
could only answer, “I will pray for you. Miss 
Vera; the Lord has something greater for you 
to do.” But not realizing the meaning of that 
sentence, Vera went off feeling better since 
she had confided her troubles to someone else. 


CHAPTER VII 


The Card Party 

M rs. DICKSON was very much inter- 
ested in what happened during her 
absence. She was not long home until 
she discovered Vera’s decision about the cards 
and her joy knew no bounds when she learned 
that once more she and her daughter saw eye 
to eye with each other. 

“You were perfectly right, my dear,” she 
said, as she patted Vera on the arm. “I am 
more than proud of a daughter who cannot be 
led astray by such fanatics as are brought to 
our church these days.” 

Then as the days went by and the loquacious 
ladies told of the happenings in the church dur- 
ing the visit of this strange evangelist, Mrs. 
Dickson’s placid anger gave way to a more 
furious kind and she scolded, talked, planned, 
and even threatened until she almost made 
Vera sorry she had taken the step she did. 

[ 50 ] 


51 


The Card Party 

“The idea,’’ said Mrs. Dickson to a caller one 
day, as the conversation turned quickly to the 
only topic that seemed to tickle the ears of her 
set, “of our circle of friends being dubbed as 
gamblers because we give prizes at our clubs 
and card parties, and to think that our church 
which we helped to organize and for w^hich we 
have worked so hard, should at this time in its 
history have a minister who would dare to bring 
a man to insult our members by talking about 
our innocent amusements, and do everything 
but call out our names. I wonder what religion 
is coming to? I presume the time will soon 
come when we will not be permitted by the 
church to do anything but eat, work and sleep. 
Presently the discipline will be so fixed that we 
will not be able to worship there unless we see 
eye to eye with every Tom, Dick, and Harry 
of an evangelist who happens to come our way. 
I do not believe in such tommy-rot. I believe 
in attending church and supporting it as an 
institution, but I also believe in personal liberty 
and feel perfectly free to do as I please outside 
the doors of the sanctuar}\” 


52 


Vera Dicksonfs Triumph 


‘‘Now daughter,” she said to Vera, who was 
just returning from a ride, “just to show your 
good sense I want you to come and help me 
select the prizes for our party. We will have 
the very best and many of them, just to get 
even with that sanctimonious Dr. Douglass 
who thought he did such a good thing in hitting 
us indirectly for our card-playing.” 

So it came to pass that never had there been 
such a party in the city and never such prizes 
offered as were carried away by the fortunate 
ladies who did not agree with the pastor of 
that aristocratic congregation. 

But in the well-furnished pastor’s study sat 
Dr. Douglass brooding over his many troubles, 
not the least of which was the opposition he had 
to face from the most prominent members of 
his church, and on bended knees he pleaded with 
God to awaken and save these same women 
who could be a power for God in leading others 
into the paths of righteousness, if they them- 
selves were fully surrendered to the claims of 
Jesus Christ. As he again surrendered his 
own life, he asked for grace to he kept true and 
loyal to his convictions and to his God as one 


53 


The Card Party 

of His appointed shepherds, who was laboring 
not to please men, but with a single eye to the 
glory of God. 

That evening he was going to teach a com- 
pany of young men and young women whom 
the Lord had helped to bring together in an 
organized Bible class and who had learned the 
power of a separated life. They loved their 
teacher as children love a father, for many of 
them had definitely surrendered to the claims 
of Christ under his ministry, while all of them 
had been led into the deeper truths of the Word 
of God and were now actively engaged in the 
work of soul-winning. When he reached the 
meeting-place he found them talking in groups, 
and there was a little more difficulty than usual 
in bringing the meeting to order. The grand 
old song written by Dr. A. J. Gordon was sung 
in a very prayerful spirit : 

“Help me to be holy, 

0 Father of light; 

Guilt-burdened and lowly, 

1 bow in Thy sight; 

How shall a stained conscience. 

Dare gaze on Thy face? 

E’en though in Thy presence 
Thou grant me a place. 


54 


Fera Dicksons Triumph 

“Help me to be holy, 

O Saviour divine; 

Why conquer so slowly 
This nature of mine? 

Stamp deeply Thy likeness 
Where Satan’s hath been; 

Expel with Thy brightness 
My darkness and sin! 

“Help me to be holy, 

O Spirit divine; 

Come, sanctify wholly 
This temple of Thine ; 

Now cast out each idol. 

Here set up Thy throne. 

Reign, reign without rival. 
Supreme and alone!” 


Then the president of the class said: ‘T feel 
led to ask Dr. Douglass to change the course 
of this meeting tonight. My heart is grieved 
when I think of the people belonging to this 
church who are ‘lovers of pleasure more than 
lovers of God.’ We, who have been attending 
these Bible classes have learned to know a little 
of ‘the depths of the riches of His grace’ as we 
have been privileged to study under the faith- 
ful teaching of our pastor and we can under- 
stand, in a little measure, the burden he is 
carrying as he seeks to lead us on for God in the 


55 


The Card Party 

face of opposition from the influential, but un- 
spiritual members of this church. I feel that 
we, too, have a responsibility in this matter, and 
must shoulder the burden, helping our pastor 
by our prayers, sympathy and hearty co-opera- 
tion. While his heart is sad tonight — judging 
from our own feelings — I propose that we have 
a prayer meeting instead of our regular Bible 
study class, and that we ask God definitely to 
save the society leaders in this church and also 
in the community. All who are in favor of 
turning this meeting into an old-fashioned 
prayer meeting for the purpose of waiting 
upon God, raise your hand.” Every hand went 
up and, turning to the pastor, he said: “Dr. 
Douglass, we turn the meeting over to you to 
conduct it as you are led by the Holy Spirit, 
but please remember that we are with you in 
the stand you take against sin, and we are de- 
termined to be loyal to Jesus at all costs.” 

Glad to know he could at least count on this 
company of young people to ‘‘pray through” 
until the devil was defeated, he dispensed with 
the lesson, and together they knelt to fight a 
battle with “principalities and powers in heav- 


56 Vera Dicksons Triumph 

enly places” (Eph. 6:12), that was going to 
give victory to the hosts of the Lord in the near 
future, for little did they realize how soon their 
prayers would be answered in God’s way which 
is always far more “abundantly than we can 
ask or think.” 


CHAPTER VIII 
Gambling 

M rs. GORDON was becoming more 
and more worried about Alick. She 
had recently learned that one of his 
friends had lost all his money in gambling and 
had gone away from the city. Although Alick 
did not tell his mother so, she was convinced in 
talking the matter over with him, that only one 
of the young men had drifted to the gambhng 
dens. 

As the days went by, however, it became 
more and more apparent that Alick could not 
get enough money, and naturally he always 
came to his mother. It seemed as though he 
was spending his own income and that of his 
father as well, and then he was not satisfied. 
This condition of affairs alarmed Mrs, Gordon 
and when her husband told her something had 
gone wrong with his books, and money was 
missing that had been entrusted to him for in- 
vestment, she concluded, with her womanly 

[ 57 ] 


58 Vera Dicksons Triumph 

intuition, that more than one young man had 
left the so-called innocent amusement in the 
homes of church members, to join the ranks of 
those who frequent the gambling dens of the 
world. Therefore she paid a secret visit to the 
office of her husband and together they w^ent 
over the books to try to unravel the mystery. 
Yes, it was* only too true, the mbney had been 
taken, and sitrange to say just the amount that 
they had learned the other young man had lost. 
This startling revelation confirmed what they 
had feared for some time, proving that their 
boy had been a partner in sin with his com- 
panion wffio had left the country several months 
ago. 

Next morning Miss Arnold was preparing 
to come down for the morning worship, which, 
for a reason unknown to her, had been post- 
poned until eleven o’clock. It was now ten 
forty-five and a knock at her door made her 
think she was wanted down stairs, when Mrs. 
Gordon appeared with a strained, anxious look 
in her face. 


Gambling 59 

“Don’t come down stairs until Alick leaves,” 
said the sad-faced mother and walked out again 
without waiting for an answer. 

JNIiss Arnold waited half an hour and then, 
hearing the door close and someone walk down 
the driveway, she decided Alick had gone, so 
she slipped down and quietly opened the library 
door and to her surprise there he stood, his 
elbow on the mantel-piece, his head on his hand, 
and tears falling on the rug at his feet. His 
mother stood beside him waiting, and the an- 
swer she was asking for came, — “Yes, mother, 
I did it.” 

Jessie Arnold closed the door as quietly as 
she had opened it, feeling that this was no place 
for intruders. She was not surprised when 
later Mrs. Gordon told her she had accused 
Alick of theft, and that he had confessed, so 
like his friend he, too, had gone away without 
saying goodbye to anyone, not even to Vera, 
for had she not told him she would never marry 
a man who was not strong enough to play cards 
without gambling? 

Everything was hushed up and kept very 
quiet, but it reached the Dickson family never- 


60 Vera Dickson'' s Triumph 

theless, and somehow Vera had a guilty con- 
science, as over and over again would rise 
before her a vision of Alick when he came to 
discuss that “important matter.” Her own 
voice seemed to mock her as it echoed from the 
past telhng him there was no harm in card- 
playing, and with what anguish of heart she 
now recalled, — ^what she thought at the time a 
compliment, — ^his remark that she was not so 
narrow minded as his mother. 

It did not seem judicial to visit the Gordon 
home or mention Alick even to Miss Arnold 
since they seemed so reticent that no one could 
approach them on the subject, so poor discon- 
solate Vera carried the burden alone, and fear- 
ful were her conjectures as to the fate of Alick, 
while ever and anon she wished she could undo 
the past and bring him back exonerated. 


CHAPTER IX 
Deepening Interest 


“4 c 

A' 

iTl.] 


CITY-WIDE evangelistic campaign! 
What will we have next?” said Mrs. 
^Dickson, when she learned that the lead- 
ing men of the city had been called to meet the 
ministers to discuss the advisability of having a 
united effort to reach the entire city for Jesus 
Christ. 

‘T think it is a fine thing,” said her husband, 
who had been appointed treasurer of the move- 
ment. “Single church efforts are no longer 
reaching the non-church going people, so that 
the only hope now is the large tabernacle meet- 
ings which break down denominational preju- 
dice and bring together all classes of people in 
the hope that many may be won for God.” 

Disconcerted in her effort to frustrate the 
plans if possible, she said in her most sarcastic 
way, “You speak as though you might be the 
first to ‘hit the trail.’ ” 

“Well there is no knowing what may hap- 
pen before this thing has come to an end,” said 
[61 ] 


62 Vera Dick soil s Triumph 

Mr. Dickson, as he smiled at his wife’s disap- 
proval of the whole thing. 

So tlie weeks that followed were taken up 
with detail work in preparation for the forth- 
coming campaign. Committees were formed, 
preliminary work started, and the city began 
to hum with work and workers to make the 
campaign, so far as organization was con- 
cerned, the greatest event in the history of the 
city. 

Vera was appointed chairman of the young 
women’s department of the campaign, and she 
threw her whole heart and soul into the work, 
enlisting the sympathy and interest of high 
school, college, business, and society girls. She 
was also appointed by the music chairman 
as special mezzo-soprano soloist in the large 
chorus choir practicing for the meetings. 

She enjoyed the work immensely and even 
her mother seemed pleased as she told day after 
day of her success in creating interest and 
arousing enthusiasm in the young womanhood 
of the city. 

Like her mother she had an abundance of 
surplus energy and this work afforded ample 









V4«i 






2? 


■fi'xV 


•;r;> 






I will never go forward in that tabernacle to make a confession of my faith in God 



















Deepening Interest 65 

opportunity to use it to great advantage for 
the betterment of humanity. She had made a 
special study of the social and civic condi- 
tions in the city and had helped in reform 
movements to reach the great mass of poverty- 
stricken, drink-besotted, sin-soaked human 
beings around her, and now this great sweep- 
ing movement to bring them, as she expected, 
into the church, appealed to her. Farther than 
that Vera never went, in things pertaining to 
God. 

The time arrived for the opening of the cam- 
paign and all who had planned and worked so 
hard awaited the crucial moment with great 
expectancy. 

Vera was in her place in the huge choir loft, 
and her father, as a prominent member of the 
executive committee, was seated behind the 
ministers, with Mrs. Dickson, inexorable as 
ever, by his side. Judge Gordon also sat near 
the ministers ; he was chairman of the enter- 
tainment committee and had thrown his home 
open for the evangelistic party. Since there 
were only three in their family now, they found 
they could very comfortably use one wing of 


66 


Vera Dickson s Triumph 


the grand old home, while the rest of the house 
was vacated for the exclusive use of the 
evangelists. 

Certainly they were criticized, hut both the 
Judge and Mrs. Gordon had prayed about the 
matter, deciding that Philemon-like they could 
provide a home for these servants of God. 
Besides, they had learned from the Word of 
God that His true servants were “given to hos- 
pitality” (Rom. 12 : 13 ), so they were com- 
pelled and impelled by love for God to take 
care of His children. 

The music, which was an exceptionally 
strong feature, specially interested Vera. The 
sermon, couched in the finest language, w^as a 
strong appeal to all the real Christians present. 
The text was “I beseech you therefore, breth- 
ren, by the mercies of God, that ye present 
your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, accept- 
able unto God, which is your reasonable 
service” (Rom. 12:1). 

The most fastidious person present could 
not but be pleased as the evangelist, a master 
of his subject, carried them off into the starry 
realms and pointed out God’s power in keep- 


Deepening Interest 


67 


ing in their place, planets, constellations, and 
millions of stars, which are all subject to Him, 
and that that same God, speaking through His 
servant, was beseeching them, as poor worms 
of the dust, to “present their bodies,’’ etc, that 
He might use them for His own glory. It was 
a heart-searching message, and God’s Holy 
Spirit continued to speak to those who heard 
it long after that first service had closed. 

Vera and her father felt rather glad that 
they had entered so heartily into everything, 
while the Gordons felt no sacrifice was too 
great for the Lord whom they were seeking 
to serve faithfully day by day, but Mrs. Dick- 
son felt rather uneasy, as she was not naturally 
a self-sacrificing character and especially had 
she made few sacrifices for God. 

In the evening the tabernacle was crowded 
again with a most auspicious gathering, and 
the message was accompanied by the power of 
the Holy Spirit, and all who were interested 
felt that the opening meetings promised great 
things for the coming days and weeks. 

Vera had reasons for being in the work of 
this campaign. First, it would lift her mind 


68 


Vera Dicksoris Triumph 


for the time being off the great trouble that 
had come into her life; second, she wanted to 
set a good example to others as she was a 
recognized leader in the city, and third, her 
musical talents could be used to great advan- 
tage in a special way. So for about six weeks, 
every minute of every day was filled and each 
day seemed to bring fresh revelations. 

There had been interest at the beginning, but 
the interest had grown until people were talk- 
ing of nothing else; no other movement had 
been comparable in magnitude to this. With 
superiority of jiumbers in faith and conse- 
cration the campaign against sin was launched 
with such a concentration of energy as the 
city had never seen. Telephones were going 
continually and the conversation was all — cam- 
paign. People by the scores and hundreds were 
meeting in groups for prayer daily; meetings 
were being held in shop and factory, and, 
everywhere, people were singing campaign 
songs. Men on the cars and trains were talking 
campaign, and the conductors were whistling 
some grand old gospel songs as they went about 
their work. Business women and girls by the 


Deepening Interest 69 

hundreds were having their own special meet- 
ings, while seats were reserved for them at 
the tabernacle ; business men, too, were meeting 
at the noon-hour for prayer. Profanity had 
ceased in some workshops, and large corpora- 
tions were demanding sober men in their firms. 
All this appealed as something new to Vera 
who had never before seen practical Christian- 
ity brought into every-day life. 

She was not present on a particular night 
when the invitation was extended to the Chris- 
tians to reconsecrate their lives to the service of 
J esus Christ ; but as splendid types of the best 
men, socially and financially, came out for 
Christ, Vera’s conscience began to trouble her, 
but she decided it would be too humiliating, 
after all the church work she had done, to come 
out now and confess that she had never before 
experienced the saving change in her heart 
and life. 

There was one fact, however, she could not 
close her eyes to, — namely, that society ladies 
who were singing in the choir and workers in 
the audience had neither surrendered as sin- 
ners, nor had they consecrated their lives as 


70 


Vera Dicksons Triumph 


God’s children, and many times over Vera 
asked herself the question, “Are they waiting 
for mother or me?” 

There had been a great deal said against 
card-playing lately and she and her mother had 
decided that while they would not give up this 
form of entertainment entirely, they would 
cease to give prizes. It was a salve for a guilty 
conscience and only went to prove that a battle 
was being waged in each breast, but so far no 
decisive victory had been won. 

The dissatisfied feelings Vera attributed to 
the days and nights she had spent wondering 
about Alick, and as she saw some splendid girls 
and young women happy in the love of Jesus 
and rejoicing in a new-found Savior, she 
thought if they had the burden of sorrow she 
was carrying, even salvation could not make 
them seem happy; so while she sang, worked 
and planned for the very best, so far as organ- 
ization was concerned, she was the most miser- 
able person in all that large campaign. She 
had learned from experience that service was 
not salvation, that no amount of work could 
bring peace to a troubled soul and she was long- 


Deepening Interest 71 

ing for a peace the world could not give. She 
had spent sleepless nights and unhappy days ; 
her mother, becoming alarmed when she noticed 
that her daughter had lost her appetite, con- 
cluded Vera was working too hard and the 
strain was too great for her nervous system; 
but Vera knew better. Her trouble was not 
over-work, nor was she drawing on her reserve 
nervous energy, but there was a load at her 
heart that could only be removed by the 
entrance of J esus Christ. She had learned that 
redemption alone could lift the burden, cleanse 
her soul, bring peace to her troubled breast and 
secure her for the heavenly home; but that was 
the point, she was unwilling to yield, — she 
could not, would not take the place of a 
sinner, and, as such, accept Christ as her Sav- 
ior, therefore, she was among the many who 
were saying, “Not now, some more convenient 
day on Thee I’ll call.” The Holy Spirit was 
grieved as He left her once more, a Christ- 
rejecter, while she barred her proud heart 
against the best Friend who had ever sought a 
place in her affections and in her life. 


CHAPTER X 


Popular Amusements 
SPECIAL night had come in the cam- 



paign when the evangelist spoke on 


JLjL. the subject of “Popular Amusements.” 
People had crow^ded into the tabernacle to hear 
the arguments of this well-informed lecturer on 
a subject that touched the very heart of the 
community. 

Vera was in her place on the choir loft, feel- 
ing very nervous and excited, wondering if 
the evangelist would bring forth any real 
strong arguments against card-playing, and if 
the force of such arguments would humiliate 
her in the presence of her set of friends, who, 
actuated by motives of curiosity, were all 
present. 

Her mother had purposely absented herself 
from that service to show her disapproval of 
the lecture, but Vera, always fair-minded, had 
bravely faced the question, and as Alick’s 
downfall was continually in her mind, won- 


[ 72 ] 





V.V 














ft 


The tabernacle was crowded with a most auspicious gathering 







Popular Amusements 75 

dered if she could possibly be convinced that 
card-playing was wrong. 

At the close of the lecture many crowded 
down to the front to take a stand against all 
amusements that were hurting others and 
leading so many young people to a lost eternity, 
but Vera stood her ground, unwilling to yield 
on any point. Her class of boys was present 
and watching their teacher they decided to fol- 
low her example, and let these fanatics go with 
their narrow-minded views on the amusement 
question, so smiling broadly at Vera they 
nodded their willingness to stand by her in not 
being influenced by any arguments against the 
things they had been practising every week 
since she became their much-admired teacher. 

At last the meeting was to be closed; the 
evangelist had raised his hands for all heads 
to be bowed while he pronounced the benedic- 
tion, when, suddenly, a man, in appearance 
like a tramp, walked up the aisle, crushed 
through the crowd, and took the evangelist by 
the hand. All eyes were turned toward the 
strange-looking person, all talking ceased as 
every ear was strained to hear the testimony 


76 


Vera Dickson^ s Triumph 


of this unexpected penitent, when his voice 
rang out clear and distinct : 

“I used to attend a church in this city when 
I was a little boy. My father was an officer in 
that church. There were seven of us boys in 
our Sunday-school teacher’s class, and we were 
much loved and respected by her. She used to 
take us home on Saturday afternoon, and we 
used to have music and refreshments, and then 
we would look over our lesson for the following 
day. After a bit, in order to keep hold of us, 
she introduced us to cards. She showed us a 
number of tricks, etc. We soon asked her to 
give us a little less of the lesson and more of the 
cards, and to show us more tricks. Shortly 
after that we ceased to go to her home at all, 
and took our cards and cigarettes to other 
places. Then we soon took to gambling and, 
of course, left the Sunday-school and her even- 
ing class altogether. 

“I want to tell you what became of those 
boys. Two of those seven have been hanged; 
three others are in the state prison for life; the 
sixth one, if the police knew where he is, would 
be there, too, and if they knew I were here, I 


Popular Amusements 77 

should be behind the prison bars in double quick 
time. All I have to say is, I wish that my Sun- 
day-school teacher had not led us as she did, — 
had never taught us boys to play cards.” 

The man, with his wild, wayward look had 
no sooner finished his story, than a woman, 
dressed in black, staggered forward and fell at 
his feet, and loudly exclaimed, in a woeful tone, 
“My God! I am that Simday-school teacher!” 

A physician and nurse were summoned from 
the audience and succeeded in resuscitating the 
prostrated teacher, who was carried to the rest 
room. Dr. Douglass was then called as it was 
discovered she needed spiritual help more than 
medical attention. 

The man of God found her sulFering agony 
because of her sin. He explained that “if any 
man sin, we have an advocate with the F ather, 
Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1), and 
told her if she would accept God’s terms, she 
could have forgiveness according to His prom- 
ise, “If we confess our sins. He is faithful and 
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 
from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 


80 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

of the living God, and what He has said is true. 
The same thing you sow you will reap, but in 
larger measure. This woman sowed cards and 
she has reaped gamblers. Sow a lifetime of sin 
and you will reap an eternity of woe.’’ 

“But now, my friend,” he continued, as he 
addressed the strange penitent, “while we know 
your story is true, we also know that you are 
responsible to God for your never-dying soul. 
Your soul, stained with sin, is precious in the 
sight of God, and His promise is ‘Him that 
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out’ (John 
6:37). Are you willing to come tonight, just 
as you are, with all your sin, and put God to 
the test?” 

“If it is possible for God to save such as I, 
I will trust Him now,” said the man, as he 
grasped at the hope held out in the text. 

“Praise God,” said the evangelist, “with 
Him ‘there is nothing impossible’ ” (Luke 
1:37). 

Then like the publican of old the anxious in- 
quirer smote himself on the breast and cried 
with deep earnestness “God be merciful to me 


Popular Amusements 


81 


a sinner” (Luke 18; 13), and God heard and 
answered prayer. 

The meeting was broken up. It was a fitting 
climax to a number of powerful arguments 
against the use of cards. Many left the build- 
ing thankful they had decided to give up that 
particular form of amusement that was ruin- 
ing men and women, as they had seen illustrated 
when they listened to the story of the tramp. 
Others, Vera among the number, went home 
to fight the battle on their knees in the quiet- 
ness of their own rooms, where decisions were 
made that were going to change the life of 
the community in the days and years to come. 


80 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

of the living God, and what He has said is true. 
The same thing you sow you will reap, but in 
larger measure. This woman sowed cards and 
she has reaped gamblers. Sow a lifetime of sin 
and you will reap an eternity of woe.’’ 

“But now, my friend,” he continued, as he 
addressed the strange penitent, “while we know 
your story is true, we also know that you are 
responsible to God for your never-dying soul. 
Your soul, stained with sin, is precious in the 
sight of God, and His promise is ‘Him that 
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out’ ( J ohn 
6:37). Are you willing to come tonight, just 
as you are, with all your sin, and put God to 
the test?” 

“If it is possible for God to save such as I, 
I will trust Him now,” said the man, as he 
grasped at the hope held out in the text. 

“Praise God,” said the evangelist, “with 
Him ‘there is nothing impossible’ ” (Luke 
1:37). 

Then like the publican of old the anxious in- 
quirer smote himself on the breast and cried 
with deep earnestness “God be merciful to me 


Popular Amusements 


81 


a sinner” (Luke 18; 13), and God heard and 
answered prayer. 

The meeting was broken up. It was a fitting 
climax to a number of powerful arguments 
against the use of cards. Many left the build- 
ing thankful they had decided to give up that 
particular form of amusement that was ruin- 
ing men and women, as they had seen illustrated 
when they listened to the story of the tramp. 
Others, Vera among the number, went home 
to fight the battle on their knees in the quiet- 
ness of their own rooms, where decisions were 
made that were going to change the life of 
the community in the days and years to come. 


CHAPTER XI 


A Momentous Hour 
ERA seemed very quiet the next day 



and talked little about the serviee of 


f the night before. Her mother was en- 
tertaining and they saw little of eaeh other, 
but as the time drew near for the service in the 
tabernacle it was evident from the preparations 
that Vera was going again to hear the evangel- 
ist preach, and from the sorrowful look in her 
eyes and the resolute curve of her lips, it was 
also evident that some important matter had 
been, or was about to be, settled. 

Again she was in her place in the choir. She 
imagined she received special attention from 
the evangelist, and that other members of the 
party were looking at her from time to time, 
not in a critical way, but as though they were 
looking for an answer to the many prayers 
that had been offered in the home of Judge 
Gordon. 

During the sermon, which was a strong 
appeal to the heart and conscience of the un- 


[ 82 ] 


A Momentous Hour 


83 


saved, she sat with pale face and set lips. It 
is true that “God’s word is quick and powerful, 
sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4: 
12), for every word did its work as the Great 
Physician probed to the core of sin in her heart 
and made her more miserable than ever if that 
were possible. She did not pass the message 
on to others but applied it as a plumb-line to 
her own heart, saying ever and anon, “That is 
true, that message is meant for me,” as if there 
were not another person in the tabernacle. “O 
God, can I be saved?” At last the invitation 
was given; the choir sang very softly. 


"Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that Thy blood was shed for me. 

And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” 

The convicted girl joined in the singing, 
every moment making her feel the force of the 
lie upon her lips. No one moved as the evan- 
gelist pleaded for sinners to surrender them- 
selves unto God. The struggle in Vera’s heart 
was indescribable. The choir was singing 
again; she looked at her book and read the 


84 Vera Dickson^ s Triumph 

words as the softened voices interpreted them 
to the anxious souls in the meeting. 

“Just as I am, Thy love unknown. 

Hath broken every barrier down; 

Now to be Thine, yea. Thine alone, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” 

There was a move in the choir and in that 
momentous hour, Vera Dickson, who never lost 
her poise, made her way off the platform to 
the front and reaching her hand to the evangel- 
ist said, ‘T have settled the great question.’’ 

Just at that moment a very officious woman 
walked up and, addressing Vera, said, “I am 
so glad you are going to reconsecrate your life. 
Miss Dickson.” 

“No,” said Vera, still addressing the evan- 
gelist, “I have come as a sinner, who never 
experienced the saving change in my life to 
accept J esus Christ as my personal Saviour and 
confess Him before the world as my Lord. 
With God’s help I intend putting everything 
out of my life that is unlike Christ. The con- 
fession of the tramp opened my eyes to my 
influence and teaching on the boys of my Sun- 
day-school class, and from henceforth I shall 


A Momentous Hour 


85 


give them the plain, simple, old-fashioned gos- 
pel, instead of wasting my time entertaining 
them as I have done in the past.” 

Oh, the effect was electrical and tremen- 
dous ! The audience was moved and from every 
part of the choir and audience Vera’s friends 
made their way down to take a similar stand 
for Jesus Christ. Her class of boys all came 
except one, and he was afraid of the opposi- 
tion in his home if he followed the example of 
his teacher. The society ladies who had so 
often laughed at evangelism were now weep- 
ing over the years of sinning wasted. Never 
had there been such a sight as one after an- 
other yielded themselves without reserve unto 
God. The tabernacle rang with the praises 
of the Lord, while there was “joy in the pres- 
ence of the angels of God” over still other 
souls repenting and turning to Him. 

Early next morning, long before her people 
made their appearance, Vera was out, and with 
her favorite dog gamboling by her side she 
made her way to “Elmhurst.” The air was 
crisp and fresh and everything was so peace- 
ful; the sky never looked more beautiful as 


86 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 


she gazed at the blue canopy of heaven and 
realized she had the smile of her heavenly 
Father. It seemed the trees, too, were clap- 
ping their hands, to the music in her soul. 
What music? Nothing more or less than the 
sweet melody set to the words which were the 
language of the new born soul, 

“Heaven above is brighter blue, 

Earth around is sweeter green, 

Something lives in every hue, 

Christless eye hath never seen; 

Birds with gladder songs o’erflow. 

Flowers with deeper beautj’’ shine, 

Since I know, as now I know, 

I am Christ’s and Christ is mine.” 

Miss Arnold who had witnessed the scene 
the night before was ready to welcome Vera, 
and throwing her arms around her neck, she 
showered her with kisses. 

“Am I too early to see Mrs. Gordon?” said 
Vera, just remembering the unearthly hour 
she had come to call. “I do want to talk with 
her and would like to see her alone.” 

“Take a seat, and I shall arrange it for you; 
don’t woriy about time; you can have all the 
time you want.” So saying, INIiss Arnold dis- 


A Momentous Hour 


87 


appeared, returning in a few minutes with Mrs. 
Gordon, who, in her motherly fashion, took the 
girl in her arms, and looking into her eyes 
which were filled with tears, said again and 
again, “Thank God!” 

“Mrs. Gordon,” said Vera, when she had 
regained her self-possession, “Sit down, while 
I tell you what is on my heart, and will kill me 
unless I can unburden it to you.” 

Placing the dear girl in an easy chair, she 
drew another up to her side and Mrs. Gordon 
said, “Tell it all, Vera, dear. Don’t keep any- 
thing back.” 

“I do not know how you will ever forgive 
me,” Vera began, “but I have had an awful 
fight ever since Alick went away. I know all 
about what he did, — and oh dear. I feel so 
guilty for I encouraged him to play cards! 
When he argued against the use of them with 
my Sunday-school boys I told him there was 
no harm in the game ; when he asked if I would 
marry a man who had become a gambler, I 
boastingly said, ‘No,’ and now, — Alick is gone. 
I did my part in making him a gambler, yet I 
was a church member and a Sunday-school 


88 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

teacher. The fight has been going on through- 
out this entire campaign, and my decision last 
night was only the outcome of the climax 
brought to my misery when that tramp came 
forward. Had I not done exactly the same 
thing that teacher had done? I had helped to 
send Alick, a gambler, away from home and 
mother. I kept my class of boys from deciding 
for Jesus Christ. God has forgiven me, and 
I am saved today, ‘redeemed not with cor- 
ruptible things, as silver and gold, but with 
the precious blood of Christ.’ Now, dear Mrs. 
Gordon,” and Vera was very wistful as she 
spoke, “can you forgive me?” 

Mrs. Gordon’s great mother-heart had been 
going out to the girl as she realized what it 
meant for her to make such a confession, and 
with a ring of assurance in her voice, she said : 

“Yes, my dear, I frankly forgive you. I 
knew you could not have lived differently, as 
you had not experienced a change of heart, 
and all Alick needs, too, is the same change. 
You and I shall pray him into the kingdom, 
shall we not, Vera?” Together they knelt, 
thanking God for one soul redeemed; asking 


A Momentous Hour 


89 


Him for the one who was still far from God 
and grace, and believing that He could reach 
him and bring the conviction necessary to make 
Alick take the same stand Vera had taken for 
her Lord and Master, and claim the promise, 
“If two of you shall agree on earth as touching 
anything that they shall ask, it shall be done 
for them” (Matt. 18: 19) . 

“Now, dear,” said Mrs. Gordon as she kissed 
her goodbye, “the next thing to do is to believe 
the promises and cling to God for an answer to 
our prayers. We must pray through and God 
will honor our faith ; He has done it in the past 
and, “He is the same yesterday, today and for- 
ever” (Heb. 13: 8). 

“You have so much faith, Mrs. Gordon. I 
wonder if I will ever grow to be such a strong 
Christian as you.” 

“Yes, you will and perhaps a great deal 
stronger, for God’s Word makes it clear that 
He can do great things for those who put their 
trust in Him. Y ou remember the portion, ‘He 
found him in a desert land, and in the waste 
howling wilderness ; He led him about. He in- 
structed him. He kept him as the apple of His 


90 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

eye’ (Deut. 32: 10). What a wonderful God 
we have! Trust Him every day even when 
you cannot trace Him, and all will be well.” 


CHAPTER XII 


On the Bounding Ocean 

T he ship’s doctor sat at the same table 
with Alick Gordon and as he took his 
place at breakfast one morning, he an- 
nounced the death of a young man who had 
passed away the night before. 

“What was the cause of death?” inquired 
Alick. 

“Pneumonia,” said the doctor. “He has had 
a sad history, poor fellow, and being somewhat 
of a humanitarian I encouraged him to tell me 
the truth about his past. It seems he came 
from a struggling though respectable family, 
learned to play cards like many boys when he 
was quite young, and soon acquired the art of 
gambling. This caused him to drift from 
home. The rest of his story is but a repetition 
of many who have gone the same way. He 
went from bad to worse until he found him- 
self without friends in a strange land and ill 
in body. His mother, a good woman I under- 
[ 91 ] 


92 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

stand, sent enough money to take him home 
where she might nurse him back to health. He 
caught cold, developed pneumonia, and being 
in a run-down condition was quite unable to 
battle with the disease. We did everything in 
our power to save him, but all in vain. We 
will bury him tomorrow morning. Would you 
like to see the funeral? It will take place at 
seven o’clock from the lower deck aft.” 

“I shall be there. I have never seen a fun- 
eral at sea and I am anxious to know just how 
it is conducted,” said Alick in an interested 
manner. 

At an early hour Alick was on deck and had 
tried to get accustomed to the rolling of the 
ship before the time fixed for the funeral. He 
was a good sailor and was not afraid to appear 
on deck in a storm, and if ever a storm raged it 
seemed to outdo itself in ferocity that morning. 
The wind howled, the sea roared and threw its 
spray up in torrents, sweeping the deck every 
time as though it were clamoring for the body 
that was soon to be lowered into its depths. 
When its purpose was not gained, it staggered 
like a drunken man, throwing the great ship 


93 


On the Bounding Ocean 

about like a straw, first to one side until it 
seemed she would never recover her poise. 
Then foiled in its effort it would throw her to 
the other side, and again anxious to get the 
mastery, it would send her dipping forward 
and reeling backward with creaks and groans 
enough ^ make passengers decide to remain in 
their staterooms, if not compelled to do so, and 
the person who ventured up, found it difficult 
to keep his feet unless he had his sea legs. 

Promptly at seven o’clock the procession 
came. First, came the captain accompanied by 
a minister who was a passenger and who had 
been asked to conduct the service. Then fol- 
lowed the sailors carrying the stretcher on 
which was placed the canvas casket containing 
the remains of the poor fellow who had passed 
away with not a friend to smooth his pillow as 
death came to claim its victim. The nation’s 
flag was draped around the stretcher and 
casket. A number of officers and men fol- 
lowed. They came to a certain place on the 
deck that apparently had been cleared for the 
occasion and Alick watched closely. The early 
hour, the absence of curiosity-seekers, the re- 


94 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

spect for the dead, the reverence with whicli 
these men doffed their hats as the stretcher 
rested on the bulwark, all seemed to speak to 
Alick of a great bej^ond to which every human 
being must go; for a moment he was lost in 
thought. Where is the poor fellow now ? These 
people were kind, no doubt, while he lived and 
they are respectful now that he is dead. I 
wonder if anyone ever thought of pointing him 
to Christ? The minister was reading — ^Alick 
knew by the movement of his lips, though no 
one heard a sound. No human voice could be 
heard above the voice of the storm as it poured 
forth its sad wail, set in a minor key. It was 
a wail that drove many a mariner to pray as he 
had never prayed before, and gave many anx- 
ious thoughts to the wife who lay awake think- 
ing of her husband who might never drop 
anchor again and say triumphantly, as he 
sprang on the pier, “Home.” The closed eyes 
and folded hands of the minister told the on- 
lookers he was praying. Then at a given signal 
the sailors tilted the stretcher and the body in 
its canvas casket dropped from under the flag 
into the raging torrent beneath. No friend 


95 


On the Bounding Ocean 

was near to heave a sigh, no loved one to shed 
a tear. There was something sad about it all, 
and Alick turned away from the scene with 
home and mother occupying his thoughts as 
they had not done for some time. As he re- 
viewed the past which might have been parallel 
with that of the young man whose funeral serv- 
ice he had just attended, and who had now 
entered upon eternity, the language of his heart 
was, “There goes Alick Gordon but for a merci- 
ful God.” 

Alick had turned over a new leaf, but was 
very much troubled over the past, which in- 
sisted on coming up before his vision, remind- 
ing him that — 

“Resolutions will not suflBce, 

’Tis life poor sinners need.” 

No one knew his need better than he did him- 
self, for he had learned the necessity of the new 
birth from childhood from the best teacher a 
boy can have — a godly mother. 

Judge Gordon had found a position for his 
son with an old-time friend, who was going 
abroad with a party of well-to-do business men 


96 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

in the interests of a new enterprise. Alick was 
their legal adviser on the trip, and had done 
his work so satisfactorily that they had otFered 
him, subsequent on his return, if he cared to 
consider it, a permanent position, a good sal- 
ary, and the chance of being introduced in a 
new and growing city with the prospect of 
building up a good practice for himself. 


CHAPTER XIII 
A Good Confession 

O N Vera’s return home she found her 
father alone in the library and, slipping 
over to his side, said, “Father, I want 
to talk to you.” 

“What troubles my little daughter?” said 
the kind-hearted man who loved Vera dearly. 

“Nothing troubles me,” said Vera, her face 
illumined with such light and gladness that her 
father watched it, entranced. “I am the hap- 
piest girl in all the world today. Last night 
I accepted Christ as my Savior and confessed 
Him as my Lord.” 

“You don’t mean to say you came out in the 
meeting?” 

“Yes, father, I did.” 

“But you have always been a good girl, Vera, 
and I cannot see why you needed a change; 
you never did anything wrong.” 

“No, I never did anything that I knew was 
wrong, but I did something that was wrong 

[ 97 ] 


98 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 


in the sight of God. Mother and you did not 
seem to think there was any harm in it and 
that made the fight all the more bitter for me, 
but I settled it all with God, last night, and I 
feel so happy today.” 

“Will you tell me just what you mean by 
that statement?” and Vera with incisive tones 
gave a full explanation. 

“I have always played cards and we have 
given prizes at our parties and I have won 
prizes at other card parties. I have enter- 
tained my Sunday-school boys here once a week 
ever since I came from college and when Alick 
Gordon came for my advice I upheld card- 
playing as a perfectly legitimate way of enter- 
taining. He was pleased that I went against, 
what he called, the narrow-minded views of his 
mother. You remember poor Alick became a 
gambler, and used up the money entrusted to 
his father for investment, and left home, while 
his father and mother have been working so 
hard ever since to pay his debts. Well, father, 
I could have nipped that sin in the bud if I had 
only known that a form of amusement that 
would end in disaster for one person, was 


A Good Confession 


99 


not right for a Sunday-school teacher. The 
trouble, however, was, I was a church member 
and a Sunday-school teacher professionally, 
without ever having experienced a change of 
heart. The Lord opened my eyes during this 
campaign to see myself as a sinner in the sight 
of God, needing nothing more or less than the 
new birth, and only last night did that saving 
change take place in my heart.” 

Her father paid splendid attention to all 
the beautiful girl had said, and seeing the kind- 
ly interest in his face Vera ventured to say, 

“May I ask a question, father?” 

“Certainly, dear.” 

“Are you saved?” 

“I think not, Vera.” 

“You would make such a fine Christian, 
father.” 

“I have been thinking very seriously about 
this matter since these meetings started, and I 
assure you if mother would take the step you 
have taken I would go with her and publicly 
confess Jesus Christ before the world.” 

This added to Vera’s happiness immensely, 
and she went out to look for her mother, feel- 


100 Fera Dickson's Triumph 

ing sure that all she had to do was to tell her as 
she had told her father and she, too, would sur- 
render to the claims of Christ ; and their home 
would become a very Bethany on earth where 
Jesus loved to come to dwell. 

Vera was doomed to disappointment when 
she met her mother, and the Lord seemed to 
have been preparing her for the trial that lay 
before her, by giving her so many things to 
encourage her during the hours that had passed 
since she became a child of God. 

She was in the drawing-room when her 
mother entered, looking very much excited and 
apparently worked up about something, and 
Vera wondered if it were an opportune time 
to tell her about her new-found joy and hap- 
piness. She did not need to wonder long, for 
rage was written on every feature of Mrs. 
Dickson’s face as she paced the floor, and the 
twitching of her mouth was a prelude to the 
battle that was about to be fought. 

“Vera,” she said, with a voice stern and per- 
emptory, stopping in front of the girl, “what- 
ever has happened to you? I have heard of the 
scene you made in the tabernacle last night and 


101 


A Good Confession 

the stand you took against cards, and you know 
very well where I stand on that question. It 
was bad enough for the minister and the evan- 
gelist to be extreme along some lines, but for 
my own daughter to go so far against her moth- 
er as to take a stand like that, right in our 
city, and among my set of friends, is too much. 
These things are for the plebean and are des- 
picable enough in them, but what are we 
coming to in society when the daughter of L. 
W. Dickson joins the fanatics, and leads a 
procession of society women down to the front 
in a revival meeting, and then have them come 
here to convert me to their views, as though I 
were the greatest sinner in town! What have 
you to say for yourself?” 

Vera felt her insufficiency to answer her 
mother’s arguments, but with a prayer for help 
she ventured to say, ‘‘Only this, mother, — that 
I never knew I was a sinner until these meet- 
ings started.” 

“What dreadful thing have you done that 
you should have to take the place of a sinner 
like that?” 


102 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

“It isn’t that mother; God’s Word says that 
‘All have sinned, and come short of the glory 
of God’ (Rom. 3:23), and that included me ; it 
is not the amount of my sin, but the fact that 
I came into the world a sinner, and nothing 
could ever take me to heaven but the new 
birth,” 

“I understand that the principal thing you 
have given up is cards, and if others have gone 
too far with card-playing, I fail to see how that 
could affect you.” 

“That is just what I learned mother, ‘All 
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned 
everyone to his own way’ (Isa. 53 : 6) , and that 
is the way I had chosen, — a way that was lead- 
ing me farther and farther from God, so I just 
came as I was, a poor lost sheep to the fold last 
night, and oh mother, dear, I am so happy ! I 
want to see father and you take the same step 
soon.” 

“If you made a fool of yourself you need 
not expect that we are going to follow your 
example. I do not believe in public demon- 
strations of religion and will never go forward 
in that tabernacle to make a confession of my 


103 


A Good Confession 

faith in God, so you may make up your mind 
now that you have to stand alone/’ With this 
she swept out of the room and, as if by tacit 
agreement, the subject was not again resumed. 
The first blow to Vera’s new-found faith and 
joy had come, and she went to her room to 
quietly weep over her sorrow and talk it over 
with the Friend “that sticketh closer than a 
brother” (Prov. 18: 24), for does not God’s 
Word say, “He is touched with the feeling of 
our infirmities” (Heb. 4:15) , and exhorts us to 
“Cast your care upon Him; for He careth for 
you” ( 1 Peter 5:7)? She had a blessed time as 
she turned to John 9 and read that when the 
man who had been blind from birth, received 
his sight and was cast out by the J ews, he was 
befriended by the Son of God. Dropping on 
her knees she cried to the God whom she had 
only learned to trust and asked Him for His 
friendship at this time when she had incurred 
the anger of her mother for Christ’s sake. A 
sweet, settled peace filled her soul as she real- 
ized for the first time the truth — “Unto them 
who believe He is precious” (1 Peter 2:7). 


CHAPTER XIV 


Answered Prayer 

V ERA had gone out early to meet some 
college girls and have a lunch with 
them before going to the tabernacle. 
She had stopped asking her mother to attend 
the services, but was praying that she might 
have the joy of seeing her father and mother on 
the side of Jesus Christ. Mrs. Dickson seemed 
to be laboring under conviction ever since she 
had learned of her daughter’s stand for her 
Lord and Master. It was, therefore, beyond 
Vera’s most sanguine expectations when she 
saw her father and mother enter the building 
and take their seats on the platform. She 
prayed most earnestly that the Lord would 
open her mother’s eyes and bring her to a sav- 
ing knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. 

The sermon was a powerful one, the evan- 
gelist basing his remarks on the text, “Choose 
you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24: 
15). As the old gospel story rang out once 

[ 104 ] 


Answered Prayer 105 

more in all its fullness and simplicity, Vera 
prayed never so fervently, that her home might 
become like Joshua’s when he made the choice 
“as for me and my house, we will serve the 
Lord.” Oh, the joy that came to her when the 
invitation was given and her father and mother, 
the society leaders of the city, came down from 
the rostrum and stood beside the evangelist to 
confess that they had made Joshua’s choice, 
and were going henceforth to serve the Lord, 
not as professors, but as possessors of the 
eternal life that God alone can give! 

Vera, who was doing personal work in the 
audience, heard the good news, and made her 
way to the front. Her mother told her in the 
most amicable terms how great the struggle had 
been, and how, at last, it had ended at the 
Cross so that now she could sing: 

“I’m not ashamed to own my Lord, 

Or to defend His cause, 

Maintain the honor of His word. 

The glory of His cross. 

“At the cross, at the cross. 

Where I first saw the light. 

And the burden of my heart rolled away. 

It was there by faith I received my sight. 

And now I am happy all the day.” 


106 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

There was joy in the presence of the angels 
that night, and Vera wondered if their joy 
could be greater than the rejoicing of her heart 
as she made her way home with her father and 
mother, all saved and anxious to live for God 
in such a way that he would be well pleased. 

“Father,” said the happy girl, as they en- 
tered their home, “shall we have family wor- 
ship tonight before retiring?” 

“Certainly, dear,” said her father, who was 
now on fire for the God who had been kept out 
of his life for so many years. 

Together they read a portion of Scripture 
and knelt in praye^ pouring out the gratitude 
of their hearts to the One “who hath done 
great things for us; whereof we are glad” 
(Psalm 126: 3) . 

Mrs. Dickson’s tears flowed freely as she 
sobbed out her sorrow for the way she had 
rejected the Son of God, and in making her 
surrender the language of her very soul was, 


“Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were an offering far too small, 
Love so amazing, so divine, 

Shall have my soul, my life, my all.” 


107 


Answered Prayer 

“Vera/’ she said, as she followed the girl 
to her room, “I have lived so much for self in 
the past, and I know so little of God, that I 
need your help now in starting to live anew. 
‘Old things have passed away and all things 
have become new’ (2 Cor. 5: 17). We will 
require a regular house-cleaning campaign and 
my desire is, that when we are through there 
will not be a sign of the old life left in our 
home to remind us of the time we have wasted — 
precious time — that could have been spent for 
God had we only known Him, but since we 
cannot undo the past I want to redeem the 
time, and crowd as much service as possible 
into the remaining days and years. You will 
help me,' Vera, dear, won’t you?” 

“Yes, mother, I will do anything I can, but 
I feel so weak, I fear I will need more help 
than you.” 


CHAPTER XV 


Miss Beatrice Dixon 

I T was Sunday evening, and in a very nicely 
furnished room in an apartment house in 
a city many miles away, was a young man 
lying in a recumbent position, suffering with 
an acute attack of nostalgia. He leaned over 
to the table and drew towards him a copy of 
the Saturday evening paper and scanned the 
columns of church notices, wondering where he 
could go to pass the time and help him to forget 
the past. His eye caught a strange notice, — 
the name of a church was given with the name 
of the pastor who was to preach in the morn- 
ing, and then came the words that attracted 
Alick Gordon, for it was he who was so lonely 
and homesick, — “7:30 P. M. Miss Beatrice 
Dixon will lecture. Everybody invited.” 

That name brought back memories of other 
days and thoughts of the companionship of one 
whose image was ever present with him, whom 
from childhood he had loved, and whom neither 
[ 108 ] 


Miss Beatrice Dixon 109 

time nor distance could efface from his 
memory. 

Courteous, kindhearted, generous almost to 
a fault, Alick had made friends wherever he 
went, and here, many had tried to lead him 
into their clubs and societies, but the thought.^, 
of the past kept him from the thing that to 
him was “the very appearance of evil.” 

Men, too, with fastidious wives and elegani 
daughters were unremitting in their attention 
to the homeless young man who had come 
amongst them, but while he accepted their at- 
tentions with much complacency, he seemed 
rather restless and uneasy at times. Again 
and again he was taken to task for his moodi- 
ness and absence of mind, but they were quite 
unsuccessful in eliciting from him a satisfac- 
tory explanation, so concluded he was either 
a confirmed bachelor or had left behind him a 
wife and family, clouded by a mystery they 
were unable to solve. 

It was, however, all too real to Alick, so try- 
ing to throw off the homesick feelings he de- 
cided to visit this particular church and hear 
the lecture, so donning his hat and coat he left 


110 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

his lonely room and boarded a street-car for 
the part of the city where the lady was to 
lecture. 

The church was small but cozy and comfort- 
able. Few were there when he arrived, but 
several men, who had come out of curiosity, to 
hear the lecture also, came off the same car 
and entered with Alick. They seemed jolly 
‘and were very talkative, and suggested that 
they go near the front, for said one, “A wom- 
an’s voice is so weak we may not hear if we 
stay in the rear.” 

When they were seated on the left side of 
the church they discussed the service. 

“Who is Miss Beatrice Dixon?” asked one 
of the men. 

“Never heard of her,” said another. 

“What is she going to lecture about?” 

“Expect suffrage.” 

“Maybe temperance.” 

Just then the vestry door opened and the 
minister entered, followed by a young woman 
who took her place beside the minister on the 
platform with perfect self-composure. 


Miss Beatrice Dixon 


111 


Alick watched every move and for the time 
forgot why he was there and what had brought 
him to that church. The service began; the 
hymns were old-fashioned and familiar for 
Alick had sung them many times before in 
Sunday-school. Then came the sermon; the 
lady stood up with Bible in hand, and an- 
nounced her subject. All doubt as to the 
nature of her lecture was banished from the 
minds of her hearers, as she told out the old, 
old story in a way that was new to many in the 
audience, but not to Alick Gordon, for the 
truths in that story were only a repetition of 
what he had listened to from babyhood from 
his own mother’s lips, and he found himself 
going back in thought to the time when he knelt 
at her knee and repeated with baby lips, 

“Gentle Jesus, meek* and mild, 

Look upon a little child. 

Pity my simplicity. 

Help me now to come to Thee.” 

Then again he could hear his mother explain 
portions of Scripture and emphasize the need 
in every life for a Savior who could “save them 
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” 


112 Vera Dickson^ s Triumph 

( Heb. 7:25), and again he could hear her voice 
lifted in prayer as she knelt beside him at his 
little bed and her words seemed to echo from 
the past as she petitioned the throne of grace 
for the salvation of her boy. 

Miss Dixon talked as though she had experi- 
enced the salvation she recommended to others. 
Her text was John 3:7: “Ye must be born 
again.” She spoke about the absolute necessity 
of the new birth and showed that as children 
of Adam we belonged to a fallen race and 
never could have a place in the glory-land 
without the new birth; then she pointed out 
God’s wonderful love in giving a Savior to 
redeem us from the hand of the enemy. She 
spoke of the simplicity of God’s way of sal- 
vation that by simply taking the place of sin- 
ners and accepting Jesus Christ as our per- 
sonal Savior we were born into the family of 
God, and what a great change took place when 
we were born again, that “old things are passed 
away; behold, all things are become new” 
(2 Cor. 5:17), that the things we loved before 
we hate now, the things we hated before we 


3Iiss Beatrice Duvon 


113 


love now and that only Jesus Christ in our 
hearts and lives could make such a change. 

She spoke of the assurance that came to us 
from the Word of God which makes it so clear 
that “we who sometimes were far oif are made 
nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2 : 13) , and 
are now “children of God: and if children, then 
heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” 
(Romans 8: 16, 17). 

Then she applied the message and told her 
audience that the Christ whom Nicodemus had 
visited during the midnight hours was pres- 
ent, as willing and ready to save now as on 
that memorable night when He said to the 
anxious inquirer, “as Moses lifted up the ser- 
pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son 
of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth 
in Him should not perish, but have eternal 
life” (John 3: 14, 15) ; then the invitation was 
extended to all who had not already surrend- 
ered to the claims of Christ to do it now. 

There was an awful struggle in Alick Gor- 
don’s soul; the devil was unwilling to let him 
go, and he piled up the barriers mountains high 
so that Alick felt it would be an easy matter 


114 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

for others to surrender, but he was such a 
sinner it would be impossible for him to be 
saved. 

His mother’s prayers and tender pleadings 
recurred to him, as they had done frequently 
of late, and with a heart-breaking because of 
sin, he bravely, manfully and courageously left 
his seat and stepped out before the entire audi- 
ence and confessed his need of Jesus Christ. 

The battle was terrific and the devil fought 
hard to keep one who had been a faithful serv- 
ant of his for so many years, but God, who 
is ever Almighty, revealed His way of salva- 
tion and made it so simple that on bended knees 
in that far-away church building, confessing 
his sins to God, Alick Gordon entered in by 
the door Christ Jesus (John 10: 9), and was 
saved from sin. 

He now returned to his room to hold sweet 
communion with the One who had so freely 
pardoned his sins, and looking in his trunk for 
the little Bible that had been the gift of his 
mother many years before, he sat into the 
morning hours searching the Scriptures to see 
if these things were so, and only when day- 


Miss Beatrice Dixon 


115 


light began to stream through the closed shut- 
ters did he realize he had not slept. Instead 
of retiring to rest he decided to stroll out to 
the woods where he could commune with the 
God whom he had rejected through the years; 
sitting down on a tree that had been blown down 
by the winter’s storms he reviewed the past 
and with thankful heart praised God for tak- 
ing care of him and saving him, even in his 
Christless career, from drifting into a life of 
profligacy. As he looked back with new vision 
he could see that it was not his will-power 
that had kept him from drifting but an an- 
swer to his godly mother’s prayers, and the 
care of a Creator for His rebellious crea- 
ture, in preserving him, — in the midst of 
snares, — from falling deeper into sin. Alick 
Gordon had been held up as an example of 
clean manhood by many a mother as she tried 
to save her boy in that distant city, not know- 
ing that there had been a time in his life when 
he took the cup his mother had begged him 
never to touch, and had played the game that 
drove him from home and nearly broke his 
mother’s heart. Now the prodigal who so re- 


116 


Vera Dickson's Trium'ph 


cently had his eyes opened to see himself as he 
was in the sight of God, decided to return to his 
mother and give her cause for joy, “for this 
her son was dead, and is alive again; was lost 
and is found” (Luke 15:32). 


CHAPTER XVI 

The Prodigal's Return 

M rs. Gordon and Miss Arnold had been 
making Alick a special subject of 
prayer, and many times each day 
those hearts were lifted to God in intercessory 
prayer for the prodigal boy in the far country. 

One morning, when they had finished their 
worship, Mrs. Gordon said, “Jessie, I feel that 
prayer has been answered and God has found 
my poor erring boy; I believe that the Shep- 
herd who has been out on the mountains cold 
and bare has at last found the sheep that was 
lost. That promise, Tf two of you agi^ee on 
earth as touching anything that they shall ask, 
it shall be done’ (Matt. 18: 19), has been such 
a blessing to me during the last few days that 
I am confident our prayers have been an- 
swered, and that those words should be written 
in capitals in every Bible, ‘IT SHALL BE 
DOXE.’ We do not need to wait until we 
hear from Alick; I think we ought to have a 
praise meeting right now,” and together they 
sang, 


[ 117 ] 


118 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
Praise Him all creatures here below. 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” 


Neither of them noticed the door open and 
some one enter, but when they had finished the 
stanza they looked up and there stood Alick by 
the side of his mother, 

“Amen; mother, you surely have something 
to praise God for! Here is your son returned 
to you a new creature in Christ J esus, — saved 
by Sovereign grace. I thought I would not 
write, nor wire, but just come.” 

For a few moments Miss Arnold felt like 
“taking the shoes from off her feet” for, she re- 
alized, “the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground” (Exod. 3: 5), and like the morning 
when mother arid son had stood in that very 
room when Alick’s sin had found him out, 
again she felt it was no place for intruders, 
and she quietly left the room and telephoned 
Vera. 

Vera answered the telephone herself with 
a “Good morning. Miss Arnold.” 

“Good morning. Miss Vera; what are you 
going to do this evening?” 


The Prodig aVs Return 119 

“Nothing special except study my Sunday- 
school lesson.’* 

“Would you like a caller?” 

“I will be delighted to have you call; come 
early,” 

“You may expect a visitor then about 7 
o’clock.” 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

Vera was alone trying to study her Sunday- 
school lesson. Strange that her mind should 
be so much on Alick this evening, and again 
and again her heart would go up in prayer for 
the one whom she had helped to send away in 
disgrace. Oh how she wished she could take 
back those arguments and bring Alick Gordon 
to God! 

“A gentleman to see you, Miss Dickson,” 
announced the butler. 

“Who is it, Harrison?” 

“He won’t give his name. Miss Dickson.” 

“Show him in, Harrison.” 

The door opened, and who should appear 
but Alick Gordon! 

Vera could not hide her emotions. The 
pent-up feelings gave way and as Alick took 
her outstretched hand she leaned against his 


120 Fera Dickson's Triumph 

breast in a paroxysm of grief mingled with 
joy, sobbing out her thanks to God for an op- 
portunity of seeing once more the one whom 
she felt she had sinned against. 

“Vera,” said Alick who was able to control 
himself better than the excited girl, “mother 
has told me all about your conversion to God, 
and little girl, I have come to both mother and 
you, to tell you, that I, too, have been snatched 
as a brand from the burning, and now I am 
rejoicing in a new-found Savior.” 

When Vera regained her self-possession she 
said, “Alick, I think I will never be able to 
praise God enough for this another answer to 
prayer. He was so good in showing me the 
error of my way, and now I feel like Rhoda 
when Peter was released from prison, I can 
scarcely believe it is true that you are really 
here, and better than everything else you are 
saved.” 

That night before they parted they had 
plighted their troth on their knees before God, 
leaving their future in His hands, with one 
desire permeating each breast, namely, “The 
glory of God.” 


CHAPTER XVII 
Saved to Serve 

T here was much to be done now that 
such a large campaign had come to an 
end, and the pastors found their hands 
full. Dr. Archibald Douglass was a frequent 
and welcome visitor at the Dickson residence 
and no one entered into the work so heartily as 
Vera Dickson. 

“Whatever would I do without her,” was the 
expression of Dr. Douglass many times as he 
faced difficult problems and appealed to Vera 
for assistance, and now that Alick Gordon had 
returned and was proving himself such a fine 
type of Christian manhood, he could count on 
a splendid team of young people, whom not 
only he, but the Lord could tmst with special 
work in that particular part of His vineyard. 

“What strong characters they are,” was the 
remark that could be heard over and over again. 
“They were at one time out-and-out worldlings ; 
[ 121 ] 


122 Vera Dickson's Triumph 

now they are out-and-out in the service of 
God.” 

They were growing in grace daily and in 
the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and were both 
becoming fine students of the Word of God, 
eager to work, but also anxious to learn the 
will of the One “who hath done great things 
for us whereof we are glad” (Psalm 126:3). 

Vera’s class had grown until she felt it was 
almost more than she could manage alone ; and 
what a band of splendid young men ! none of 
them twenty years of age, but nearly all saved 
and consecrated to the service of the Lord. 

Alick had become a member of the men’s 
Bible class and was one of its finest workers in 
the spread of the gospel and in bringing men 
to the Savior of sinners. 

Vera, however, was in trouble about her 
class, for she loved every boy in her charge 
dearly and had their very best interests at heart, 
but the work among the young women of the 
city was claiming her attention at this time. 
She had just awakened to the great need for 
leaders in such work, who not only had a per- 
sonal knowledge of salvation, but who also had 







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Saved to Serve 


125 


an intimate knowledge of human nature, and of 
young women in particular. She took the mat- 
ter to the Lord in prayer, asking for s]3ecial 
leading as to what she should do, anxious that 
the time and strength she was giving to the 
service of the Master should be spent to the 
very best advantage for Him, and relying on 
His promise, ‘‘Acknowledge Him in all thy 
ways, and He shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 
3:6). Vera waited for the direct leading of 
the Lord in this matter with a will that was 
fully yielded to the Lord, and the language of 
her heart was like that of Frances Ridley 
Havergal, who wrote, 

'‘Take my life, and let it be 
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; 

Take my moments and my days. 

Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 

“Take my voice, and let me sing 
Always only for my King; 

Take my lips, and let them be 
Filled with messages from Thee. 

“Take my will and make it Thine; 

It shall be no longer mine; 

Take my heart, it is Thine own; 

It shall be Thy royal throne. 


126 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 

“Take my love; my Lord, I pour 
At Thy feet its treasure-store; 
Take myself, and I will be 
Ever, only, all for Thee.” 


“Alick,” said Vera, on one occasion when he 
had come to spend the evening at her home, “I 
have a proposition to make.” 

“What now, Vera? You are always making 
propositions.” 

“It is just this, Alick. You know my class 
of boys. From my observation of the work in 
the city, I think young men’s classes should 
have a strong man for their teacher, — one who 
can set up a high standard of Christian living ; 
they need ideals, and I have prayed about the 
matter, and feel confident you are the one to 
take over my class; the boys all love you and 
they will not mind the change.” 

“But what will you do, Vera? You will die 
without your boys.” 

“That might have been true some time ago, 
Alick, but since my will is no longer mine I am 
satisfied with the substitute the Lord has given 
me for them. Then, too, I will be free to take 
up the much needed work among the young 


Saved to Serve 


127 


women of the city where we have not been able 
to place a competent leader and from hence- 
forth my time will be devoted to that service.” 

“But, Vera, I am not a teacher; I am really 
only learning the A B C of the gospel myself, 
and I fear I could never teach those hoys.” 

“That is just where I am, Alick; I have not 
even had the advantages you had in your home, 
and neither of us have studied the Bible as a 
text-book, but I have talked this matter over 
with Dr. Douglass, and he recommends very 
highly a Bible * which he says is both Bible 
and teacher combined.” 

The plans were completed for the wedding 
which was to take place at ‘The Elms.” It 
had been the request of Vera that they have a 
quiet home wedding, with no guests except the 
nearest friends of both bride and groom, — 
with one exception — Alick’s class of young men 
and her classes of young women — ^these young 
people were to be her special guests. She had 
arranged for a speaker who would bring a mes- 

♦A descriptive circular and price-list — also the Bible itself — may be 
obtained from the publishers of this book, or from the dealer who supplies 
it to you- 


128 


Vera Dickson's Triumph 

sage from the Savior who had honored the 
marriage feast at Cana with His presence. 

Never did such a happy company listen to the 
unfolding of the words of Jesus as assembled 
at “The Elms” on this particular occasion. It 
could not be otherwise since the Master Him- 
self was present. 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

The ceremony was over and the happy cou- 
ple were leaving for their honeymoon. The 
young were present to congratulate them ; the 
old to say, “God bless you”; their friends had 
showered them with gifts of all ’kinds; but the 
gift valued more than anything else was the 
Bible that each had presented to the other, 
which was to be their guide while life lasted for 
they had found it was “A lamp unto their feet, 
and a light unto their paths” ( Psalm 119:105), 
and they trusted the Word which told them, 
“The path of the just is as the shining light, 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect 
day (Prov. 4: 18) . 

“Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand, 

Never foe can follow, never traitor stand. 

Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care. 

Not a blast of hurry, touch the spirit there.” 






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